Worst Birthday Ever
by Pixie Twix
Summary: Everyone seems to forget that it's Pony's birthday. When he thinks his birthday can't get any worse, he's in for a suprise.


**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own any of the characters except James Philips (he's later in the story)**

**Warning: story contains swearing and death. You have been warned **

**Read and Review!**

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The moment I woke up that morning I would never have imagined what was to happen later that night. In fact, I pictured that day going a lot differently. But I guess fate had different ideas…

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I had laid awake for what seemed like hours before I got enough energy to pull myself out of bed. My back slightly cracked as I stretched my arms and legs. Track was starting to really wear me out.

Throwing my pajamas into the pile of dirty clothes in the corner of the room, I quickly pulled on a faded pair of jeans and an old shirt of Soda's. Not bothering to put on socks or shoes until it was time to leave for school.

I headed out of the bedroom and jogged down the stairs expecting to see Darry running around the kitchen getting breakfast ready for me and Soda. Instead, I found the room empty. Neither Darry nor Soda were in the kitchen. I walked to the living room to see if they were there but also found the room empty. It was unusual to find them gone before I woke up. But they both had jobs to go to so I just shrugged and went back to the kitchen.

I felt a pang of disappointment and sadness sweep through me. Though I understood Darry and Soda's busy schedule, I would have thought they would have made time to at least wish me a Happy Birthday. Fifteen was a big deal. Maybe it wasn't as big as your sixteenth or eighteenth or even twenty-first birthday, but when you turn fifteen you get to start learning how to drive. Not only that, but once your fifteen it means you're only a year away from a drivers license and the freedom to drive wherever you want. Sorta of.

I sighed and turned my attention to making my breakfast. When my eyes landed on the clock above the kitchen doorway and seeing I had only twenty minutes to get to school, all thoughts of food left my head and I raced to grab my backpack and shoes. I screwed the socks and shoved my feet into an old pair of white sneakers and ran out the front door.

"Shit." I muttered, looking around wildly for Two-Bit. Not finding him anywhere. On most days he drove me to school with him when he and Steve weren't ditching. I mentally cursed him for choosing today of all days to leave me hanging.

Putting my arms through the backpack straps, I jogged my way toward school in hoping to make it in time. I couldn't be late. If I was, I would never hear the end of it from Darry. I know he only wants me to do well in school so I could have a future but sometimes he takes it to the extreme where all I want to do is throw my homework at him and yell for him to do it.

Checking the cheap watch on my wrist, I noticed there was only five minutes till the first bell rang.

I pictured that I was in a track meet and was running against one of the best competitors from the other school. James Philips. There were only a few meters to go and I was slightly behind. My legs started to cramp but I pushed them to go faster and before I knew it, I was in the school gates and practically jumping over the hard concrete stairs.

Opening the heavy school door, I slowly jogged my way to my first period, not wanting to get caught running in the hallways by a teacher. As I entered the classroom door to History, the bell rung.

I sighed inwardly and walked to my seat while the teacher glared at me the whole way. Flopping down into the desk seat, I got out a pencil and notebook getting ready to take notes, avoiding all the stares.

"_And first place goes to Ponyboy Curtis."_ I thought smiling.

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Making my way home, I noticed a blue mustang following me. I picked up my pace and kept my head down, hoping they would just go away.

Suddenly the mustang was honking, trying to get my attention. I didn't look up and that seemed to aggravate them. The mustang sped up and blocked my path as I tried crossing the street. Car doors opened and four Socs got out. They'd began to circle around me.

"You shouldn't be walking alone, greaser. Today's garbage day. People may mistake you for trash." A tall brunette Soc said.

"That wouldn't be a bad thing though. The streets would be one grease cleaner." Replied a blonde haired Soc. They all laughed.

Frowning and without thinking, I muttered, "Streets would be cleaner if _you_ were gone." I hadn't meant for them to hear that but unfortunately, they heard me.

"What was that?" The shortest of the four barked.

"You have some nerve, grease. Danny, I think this kid needs a lesson." The brunette hissed.

Arms were all of a sudden on me, holding me down to the ground. I started squirming trying to get them off of me. There was a swift kick in my side and I tried to double over in pain but was unable to, due to the arms on me. A flurry of punches hit me in the face and I knew that I would have a black eye within the hour.

I grunted in pain and flailed my legs out trying to kick them to no avail. The hits seemed to come non stop and I closed my eyes, trying to imagine as if I was somewhere else. Maybe the country where I could ride horses with Soda while Darry worked the fields. Johnny would be there too. He'd come to live with us and leave behind his no good parents. The gang would visit us and we'd all have a blast. No one to tell us how we were litter to society or arrest us for something we didn't do.

The arms that were holding me down were gone and I was left alone on the cold sidewalk. I slowly opened my eyes and was met with the blaring sun. Scrunching my eyes up, I pushed myself up and walked to the bench that sat on the sidewalk. Sitting down, I rubbed my face and winced in pain.

I hoped I would get home before everyone so I could check the damage before they all jumped on me on who did it.

"_I shouldn't have to deal with this on my own birthday."_ I thought.

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When I closed the front door, I'd expected to see Two-Bit or Johnny on the couch watching TV but was met with the same silence as I did this morning. Part of me was glad I was home alone. It gave me time to clean up my face. But another part of me was sad. I wanted to be with my friends, (yes, even Steve), and spend the day with them. I hadn't seen anyone all day and I had gotten a bit lonely.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with me locked in my room alone, finishing up my homework so Darry could check it over for me later. At around 6:30 pm, Soda and Steve came barreling into the living room laughing and I momentarily smiled.

"Pony!" I heard my name being shouted. I smiled again and pushed my desk chair back. I headed to the living room where Soda was taking off his DX shirt and hat and throwing them onto the couch. I became confused when I saw that he wasn't taking off his shoes. He hated wearing them.

"You going somewhere?" I asked as I sat on the couch.

"Yeah. Steve and I were going to Bucks for a while." Soda said cheerfully as he grabbed a Pepsi from the kitchen.

This confused me more. "I thought we weren't aloud at Bucks?" I questioned. Darry didn't want either one of us going there. Said it was dangerous.

"We aren't." he said. "I just wanted to see if you were here so you could cover for me and tell Darry I was at the rodeo instead." Soda wasn't one for rules. And I usually covered for him when he decided to sneak out or lie about where he was going, just like now.

"You mean you aren't going to stay?" I said sadly. Soda hadn't forgotten it was my birthday did he? He couldn't have.

"No. Sorry buddy." he said quietly. Then more enthusiastically, "We'll hang out later, 'kay?"

"Sure." I whispered, though he didn't hear me because the two of them were already out the door and getting into Steve's car.

How could he forget it was my birthday? He's never forgotten one before and I _never_ forget his. I grew upset over the fact that not only did he forget, but Steve did too. I didn't expect much from him but on my other birthdays he would at least mutter a happy birthday.

I sighed deeply, feeling exhausted. I walked up the stairs back to my shared bedroom, once again alone.

"_I'll wait till later tonight to see if they remember…"_ I thought.

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Johnny, Two-Bit and Dally had stopped by for a little bit just as Soda and Steve had. They too were going to Bucks. Two-Bit asked if I wanted to come with them but I said I couldn't. Darry would skin me if he ever found out I was there. Besides, I had to cover for Soda. When I reluctantly said no, Johnny gave me a sad look and promised just like Soda did, "that we'd hang out later."

Darry hadn't arrived home till nine and by then I was sure he had forgotten too.

Most people would have been livid that their family had forgotten that it was their birthday. Most people would go marching up to them demanding answers to why they would have forgotten. They would scream, yell and/or possibly cry. But I didn't do any of that. In fact, I didn't even mention to Darry it was birthday. No screaming or crying would turn back time.

When Darry had gotten home from work, I acted as if it was any other school night for me. I had cooked dinner for just the two of us and when he asked where Soda was, I lied and said he was with Steve at the rodeo. When I finished cleaning the dishes and putting them away for the next day, we went over my math homework, fixing any mistakes I made. Of course, just because I didn't yell at Darry for forgetting my birthday didn't mean I wasn't upset and mad. A few times I would argue with him for the stupidest mistakes on the homework just for the sake of getting rid of some of that anger.

The clock struck 10:30 pm and I was tired. The minute Darry and I finished with my math homework, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed. It seemed that Darry had other plans though.

"Pony, where do you think your going?" He asked as I began walking up the stairs. "We still need to go over your Chemistry work."

"But Darry, it's late and I'm tired." I whined.

"Pony." He said with a stern voice as if daring me to argue with him.

"What's one assignment? It's not like its going to change my grade dramatically."

"If we start slacking off on checking your work now, pretty soon we'll be doing it all the time. And _that_ will dramatically change your grade. Now come back down here and let's get going."

And just like before with the Socs, I said without thinking, "No."

Darry stopped in his tracks and looked back at me. He scrunched his eyebrows together. "Pony…stop being childish and come down."

Suddenly all the hurt and anger from earlier came back and I was fuming.

"No," I repeated, "we're done for tonight." Darry opened his mouth as if to begin talking but I cut him off. "I've had a very long day today. No one woke me up and I had to run to school because Two-Bit had conveniently decided he wanted to ditch. I got a pop quiz in English that I wasn't ready for and when I was walking home I was jumped. And when I did get home I thought I would be able to forget about it and just hang with the gang but when I finally got home no one was here. I finished my homework like usual and I waited for Soda to get here from work and when he did do you know what he did? He left me to go hang with Steve at _Bucks_. That's right. He's not at a rodeo, he's at _Bucks_. The place where we aren't aloud at. And Johnny and Two-Bit and Dally are there too because they'd stopped by also. They asked if I wanted to come but I said no because I knew that _you_ would object to me being there. I made dinner and washed the dishes and I've put up with your need to check all of my work. And when all I wanna do is go to bed and sleep, you're telling me that I can't because we _still_ need to go over my homework? I can deal with all of that, sure. But when you say I'm being a child and acting crazy for some stupid reason that just draws the line. You probably don't even know what day it is today!" I shouted out the last part.

Darry looked stunned. I had never really stood up for myself, so for me to make a big speech like that was unusual.

I chuckled as if I had made some kinda joke. "I knew it. You forgot. Everyone forgot… Who cares. It doesn't matter anymore." I was going to head upstairs when I stopped. I slowly turned around, "You know what? I'm going out." I said, "I'll be back later." And with that, I walked out of the house, slamming the door.

I didn't know where I was going. All I knew was that I had to get away, and not just for a little bit. I've been thinking about getting away from everything and everyone for a while now. The pressure from Darry to be perfect and the constant fighting between greasers and Socs were overwhelming.

Car lights blinded me and I threw an arm over my eyes. A dark blue T-bird pulled up beside me. The driver's side window rolled down and Curly leaned out.

"Hey, Curtis. Whatcha doing out this late. Shouldn't you be home? Man, Darry's going to flip if he finds out your not in bed!"

"Who cares." I repeated for the second time that night. "Let him worry."

I wrapped my arms around myself and rubbed my upper arms, trying to warm myself up from the chilly night air.

"Well damn Curtis. Get in before you freeze your ass." Curly said smirking.

I knew I shouldn't get in the car. Curly wasn't exactly the safest driver. But I was cold and had no where to go.

I walked around the front of the car and got in the passengers seat.

"Where we going?" I asked.

Curly took his eyes of the road to look at me. Grinning he said, "Anywhere we want."

I laughed and felt myself relaxing. I knew when I got home that I would get it from Darry but for right now, I couldn't give a fuck.

Curly drove fast and before I knew it, we were out of Tulsa and on the highway.

I had a feeling that this would be one birthday I wouldn't forget.

If only I knew…

I rolled down the passenger window and let the air run across my face. The cool air was soothing. I didn't know where we were going or if I ever wanted to go back. But if I knew what was to happen in the next minute, I would have never left home or gotten in the car.

It seemed to happen out of nowhere. One second, Curly and I were listening to the Beatles and just enjoying each others company, the next we were flying through the air. There was a sound of metal on metal and a sickening crunch. Someone was screaming and I couldn't figure out if it was me or not. The world was upside down and I could see broken glass on the ground. There was a flash of light ahead of me and we were soaring through the air again. I could hear Curly yelling something inaudible.

I suddenly felt light. Like there was no such thing as gravity. I didn't feel hurt or even numb. I felt exactly the same as I did before I got in the car except… warmer. I could smell gasoline and I was pretty sure either Curly's car or someone else's was on fire. There were so many noises. Shouting, car horns, the crackling of the fire and from a distance, the wailing of sirens. They were so far away though. It was as if I was under water and everything was going on above the surface.

I knew what that feeling meant. The weightlessness and the feeling that you were so far away.

I wished I had never left the house. I wished that I never blew up on Darry and I wished it wasn't my birthday because I would never have left the house if it was.

Sorrow tore threw me like a knife in the gut. I realized that I would never be able to see Soda or Darry or the gang again. I would never be able to laugh at one of Two-Bit's jokes again or get into arguments with Steve. I wouldn't be able to have a smoke with Dally or watch a sunset with Johnny. I wouldn't be able to tell Soda about my day. And I wouldn't be able to feel happy when I actually did something right and made Darry proud. I would miss out on the future with everyone. I'd miss out on how they turned out to be and who they'd married.

Though I would be in heaven with Mom and Dad, I wasn't ready to go. Who ever is? This would kill Soda and Darry when they found out. They had no clue that this was going to happen when they woke up this morning. Heck, I had no idea. I thought about Tim. Would he be alright? Was Curly dead already or was he alive?

I tried turning my head to see if Curly was okay but when I moved a pain shot up my neck. I hissed and moved my head back into the same position it was in.

I thought about all the car accidents I had read in the papers over the years. Did those people feel any pain when they died? Did they feel sad knowing they were about to leave earth and everything behind? I thought about Mom and Dad and their car accident. Did they feel the same sorrow I did right now? I hoped not.

It was unfair people died like this. No one should die so young. I was only fifteen as of today. And Curly was only sixteen for a few months. We should've died in our beds as old men. Not in a car as teenagers.

I looked ahead of me at all the other car wrecks. They looked so bad. And again, I hoped. I hoped that no one else would die tonight besides me.

Muffled moans and groans were coming from Curly and I silently thanked god that he wasn't already dead.

Everything seemed to darken around me. As if someone was dimming the lights. The police had finally showed up and they were taking Curly out of the car. An ambulance was meters away from us, preparing to take us to the hospital. But I already knew I wouldn't make it. Call it instinct.

"_Goodbye Soda. Goodbye Darry and Johnny and Two-Bit and goodbye Steve and Dally. I'm sorry I couldn't make it. I'll miss you all. Have a good life and try not to miss me too much. Please move on. I'll be alright." _ I thought.

And I knew that I would be alright. I'll see them again someday. It was my time to move on and I would take it like a man. The only regret that I had was that I couldn't apologize to Darry for my behavior and say I'm sorry.

They say before you die that your whole life flashes before your eyes. For me, that didn't happen. Flashes of the future went through my head and everything that I would miss. I felt sad but happy. Sad that I would miss out on the future, but happy that it would still go on for the gang.

I was being pulled out of the wreck and put on a stretcher. I saw a light ahead of me and knew it was time. Before I went into the light and into the darkness, I couldn't help but think, _"Worst birthday ever."_

**I know! I'm mad at me too for making Pony die. If you're wondering about Curly, he did live. **

**And I know Two-Bit, Johnny and Dally were mentioned in this story but not actually in the story. Sorry about that. **

**I may or may not do an epilogue on this story on how everyone takes the news of Pony's death. I haven't decided. **


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